


A, you're Adorable

by ElopeToTheSea



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Adoptive Parents - Freeform, Family, Growing Up, M/M, Multi, The family au no one asked, baby Yurio, hes like six, slight homophobia in later chapters, tiny Yurio
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-09-09 00:26:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8868826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElopeToTheSea/pseuds/ElopeToTheSea
Summary: One would think that the worst part of having two dads is double dad jokes. But when you have a Russian and a Japanese dad, the worst thing is growing up knowing bits of three different languages, and never figuring out why they never really got married. But the bicultural thing bombs, when you get to have piroshki and katsudon at the same time for dinner.





	1. Chapter 1

Yuri stared at the door in front of him. It was a foreign door, one he had never seen before. The paint was black, unlike the one in his mother’s house, with no scratches and no visible marks that told it had been used time and time again. In his eyes, it seemed to carry an ominous feeling that everything would go down to the drain, but to be fair towards the door, with his current situation everything seemed to be a sign of inevitable doom.

“We are here,” Viktor told him, taking his own keys out of his pants. Out of the corner of his eyes, Yuri saw the keychain dangling and wondered what it was.

The door opened. It made a creaking sound, which made him wince.

“I really should have that fixed…” Viktor’s voice seemed nervous as he stepped inside of the department. “Come here, Yuri.”

Viktor carried both of the suitcases that Yuri had brought along. He carried little to nothing in them, the little he had could be packed in a single one, yet he chose to also bring along some things that carried an emotional attachment to them.

As they walked down the halls, he couldn’t help staring at this place. It was so different from back home. The walls were painted in pure white, not having a single stain over them, and the furniture was leather. Everything seemed fancy, out of a magazine and surreal. Yet, Viktor seemed unfazed by everything surrounding them, and just continued walking down the halls, without even turning to look at him. It pissed him off.

* * *

 

_“What?” He remembers the Viktor voice as he stepped in the room. The man looked shocked, staring with disbelief at the lady sitting in front of him. “That…You must be joking…”_

_“I’m sorry to be the one to carry the bad news,” the lady told him. She was a nice lady, but it didn’t mean Yuri liked her. Not even one bit. Why? He simply didn’t like her. She had weird eyes that looked at him in a weird way. “But in the current situation, you are the only person we could come in contact with.”_

_“I understand,” Viktor’s face kept being unreadable, as he listened to the woman. “After so long, this is what it came to, huh, sestra?”_

_He then looked at Yuri. It startled him. The man, Viktor, smiled at him. Yuri did not return it._

_“I will understand if you don’t have the means to take care of him. Yet, with the turns of evens we have…” the woman looked out of the corner of his eyes at Yuri. “The only way we can help is by a orphanage.”_

_Yuri’s eyes widen, he quickly looked up at the man, fright obvious in his eyes. A few minutes earlier, he hadn’t understand the meaning behind those words. But the lady had told him the meaning to them. It was a place where they took care of children who didn't have a family. He was scared that most he will admit, even if not out loud. He didn’t to be alone. He wanted…Deep down, he wanted his mother back._

_Surprise took him over, when he met the man’s eyes. They were as scared as his. They stared at him, lost and confused, for a split of a moment, reminding him of her. He turned his head quickly towards the lady._

_“No!” He was so caught up in emotion he didn’t seem to realize he ha raised his voice.”We’ll take care of him!”_

_He had said We._

* * *

“Here we are go,” Viktor said in a nice voice. Yuri looked up to see a door. Another door. An unfamiliar door. Before Yuri tried to even touch it, Viktor opened it for him. He opened his eyes wide at the room that appeared in front of him. It was plain white, with a single bed and no other decoration. It was so small with a wardrobe that could barely fit even half of her mother’s clothes. “This is your room. I know it’s not much, but…We are kind of having a rough time.”

Yuri couldn’t care less. He stepped inside, the first thing he went for was the bed. Smaller than the one he had back in Russia but the still huge for a toddler. It had plain sheets, and just a pillow. Yet, when he sat on it, he realized it was warm, the sheets were soft and warm. It made him sleepy.

“Well, we didn’t know what you would like, so we decided to leave it simple. We can go shopping later so you can start adorning it.”

Yuri simply nodded. He stared all around, unsure of what to do now. He barely knew the person in front of him, he didn’t even know where he was, and over all, he didn’t even know what was going to happen from now on.

The unfamiliar sound of keys being rustled and the lock opening made Yuri look up. Viktor also turned his head to see the door that opened slowly.

“Viktor,” a voice said, in a weird way. It started talking, and at this point Yuri couldn’t understand a single thing it kept saying. He couldn’t see this person’s face either, since he immediately walked to the kitchen, holding in his hands a paper bag.

“Yuuri!” Viktor screamed, startling Yuri.

“What?” He asked, confused over why the man would scream his name, when he was obviously next to him. But instead of talking to him, Viktor walked towards the kitchen, leaving Yuri alone.

Confused, and a little scared even if he wouldn’t say it, Yuri got out of the bed, and walked slowly towards the kitchen. With each step, he heard the voices clearer. It didn’t help much though. They spoke in a different language, something Yuri couldn’t even phantom to understand. The door, another foreign door, stood in front of him. With all the courage a six years old could muster, he opened the door.

Two men were standing in the middle of the kitchen, one he recognized as Viktor, and the other was a man Yuri had never seen before. With glasses and black hair, he looked at Viktor with confusion. He spoke, yet Yuri couldn’t understand a single thing. They seemed to be casually talking, Viktor a little nervous and the other man without a clue in the world. Yuri tried to see more, but when he pressed more towards the door, it creaked. Silence fell in the room, and he felt the two men turning around to see him.

The man started talking, this time faster, and he pronounced Viktor’s name more than once as he talked. Yuri was still as unaware of what was happening as before, and Viktor didn’t seem to tel anything to anyone.

Finally, Viktor sighed, and spoke in Russian.

“Yuuri,” he called, and both the man and Yuri turned to see him. Viktor opened his arms, and lifted Yuri in his arms. “I would like to present you the new member of the family!”

The man stared at Yuri, closely and worried, it was hard for Yuri to hold the man’s gaze. He spoke again, that language Yuri couldn't understand.

“Yuuri, he can’t understand Japanese,” Viktor commented, in Russian, making the. Man stop talking.

“Viktor…” the man sighed, looking at the ceiling. “What did you do?”

“Okay, I’m sure this looks odd, but I can explain…”

Yuri wasn’t sure what to do, the adults proceed to talk about adult things, that didn’t seem to make sense to Yuri at all. They were a bunch of gibberish, specially with the back and fort switching of languages. One minute he understood, the other he was lost. He gave up, when the voices started going faster and for some reason also lower.

The man sighed one last time, before finally stopping the conversation all together. Silence fell in the room, making Yuri slightly uncomfortable.

“Yuuri?” Viktor’s voice cut through the silence like a knife. The man lifted his face, and turned to Yuri with a smile.

"Hello there," the man said in really broken Russian. It made Yuri want to laugh, who wriggled out of Viktor’s arms to stand in his feet, looking up at the man. "Who are you, little one?"

"I'm not little!" Yuri exclaimed, puffing out his chest. "I'm the great tiger: Yuri Plistesky!"

Yuri let out a growl that was supposed to be intimidating, but the man didn't as much as flinch. All he did was smile.

"What a coincidence," he extended his hand towards Yuri. "My name is also Yuuri. Yuuri Katsuki."

Yuri stared at his hand, unsure of what he should do. The man's, Yuuri's, were pretty smooth for a guys. His grandfather's were nothing a like, or Mother's boyfriends. It seemed weird.

"Is there something wrong?" Yuuri asked. Yuri kept frowning at his hand.

"Not fair," he managed to blurt out. Viktor stared, and Yuuri didn't seem to even understand the literal meaning of his words. "I'm Yuri, there shouldn't be another one!"

Everything fell to silence, and in a moment a chuckle was heard. Yuri realized it came from Yuuri and it only made him angrier.

"You are right," Viktor commented, clasping hands."It will get confusing if we have two Yuris."

“Right?!” Yuri said enthusiastically, looking at Yuuri with a shit eating grin. Yuuri only smiled nervously, as he stared at both, Yuri and Viktor.

“So, Yuri,” Viktor turned to see Yuri in the face, he kneeled down to stare at the kid properly. He smiled, a little mischievous. “Shall we nickname you ‘Yurio’?”

“What?! Why?!” Yuri asked, surprised. “No! I’m Yuri! He should change his name!”

Yuri glared at Yuuri, who was still smiling cheerfully, although also a little nervous.

“Well, you see…Yuuri is really dumb,” Viktor began, he ignored the faint ‘Viktor!’ That Yuuri let out. “So if we call him something else, he’ll surely won’t know we are talking to him.”

Yuri looked at Viktor, with his eyes sharp just like it ran in the family, somehow uncannily similar to Viktor’s own when he wasn’t sure of something. A silence fell in the apartment, as Yuri pondered over what it had just been said to him.

“Makes sense,” Yuri said, finally. Viktor sighed.

“And, since you are far smarter,” Viktor took both of Yuri’s hands in his. Viktor’s hands were big, and Yuri realized they were also really soft, even if the gloves made it feel colder than they were. “You’re going to understand, won’t you?”

At the words that he was better, Yuri couldn’t help but feel proud. Yes! He was smart! He would prove this second Yuri that he was far better.

“Yes!” He beamed, and suddenly a grin spread across Viktor’s face. Suddenly, for some reason, Yuri felt cheated.

“That’s my boy, Yurio!” With a cheer, Viktor took Yurio in his arms and lifted him once again. Even if he didn’t want to, Yurio laughed. Viktor was far taller than his mother had been, so when he was carried, he could almost touch the ceiling. It was so cool he could reach other places.

Suddenly, Yuuri said something. Of course, Yurio didn't understand a single thing, it was in that weird language he didn’t know.

“Yuuri, I already told you,” Viktor began again in Russian, turning towards the other man. Yurio finally managed to see his face. He almost laughed. He looked so weird! “Yurio can’t understand Japanese, you need to start talking in Russian from now on.”

The man protested, yet since Viktor refused to listen to him unless he spoke Russian, he was left with no other option than to sigh and speak again.

“Yurio,” he said in a really, really bad Russian. Even Yurio could tell that. “What do you want to eat?”

“Piroshki!” Yurio said at the instant. He realized how hungry he was. After a flight from Moscow to wherever this place was, he was so hungry he could eat a horse.

“What?” The man asked, in a seriously confused manner. This made Yurio gasp. “Piro..”

“Piroshki, Yuuri,” Viktor laughed, moving closer to the man. “It’s a common snack back in Russia.”

“Oh,” Yuuri said, and looked at Yurio. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to make that…”

Yurio opened his eyes giant as plates. This place was messed up! What kind of place didn’t have piroshki?!

“I wanna go home,” Yurio said, to what Viktor could only stare. “This place is weird, I don’t like it.”

“Yurio?” Viktor asked, and Yurio tried to get out. At this, Viktor decided to put him down. “What’s wrong? Is it the piroshki? We can try and do it here. Maybe it won’t be the same but…”

Those words echoed inside of Yurio. ‘Maybe it won’t be the same.’ It didn’t make him feel good. On the contrary, it made him just want to go back home.

“I’m not hungry anymore,” Yurio said, turning around.

He headed back to his room. He could feel both men standing in the kitchen, staring at him. He didn’t want them to look at him. His eyes were surely like the woman back in Russia. Weird eyes that stared at him with a weird look. He was unsure what it was but it seemed to send the message. Those eyes were looking down on him. Thinking, surely thinking, that he was weak, that he was sad. And maybe he was but he didn’t want everyone to see. He didn’t want the whole word to see and mock him for feeling sad.

“Yurichka,” his mother’s words came flooding him all of the sudden. Her soft voice and the smell of her perfume in the morning. “You are strong, my little Yurichka…”  
‘I don’t know what I would do without my little soldier boy…’

Her eyes, ever so kind and wide. Full of emotion and so full of life. The little house they had, still bigger than the apartment, with walls painted in pastels and the smell of homemade food all over the place. That was his home. With his mom in the bed telling him about his day, letting him eat Piroshki before bed, even if it was supposedly forbidden, and the cold nights cuddled up under the blankets.

“Mama…” Yurio closed the door behind him. The room was already dark, outside the moon shone in dull manner. Nights were brighter back with mom. Back home. Holding back his own tears, Yurio threw himself to the bed. It was warm.

He wanted to go back. This place was weird. He wanted to be back with his mom. He wanted his mom back.

Fighting back the tears was impossible at this point. He let them roll down his cheeks without daring to even mutter a single sound. Stop. He told himself time and time again. You need to be strong. Stop crying.

He bit his lips, breathing in and out. He remembered his mother’s words, he couldn’t be mopping here, he needed to go help his mother!

Yes, that’s right. He would demand to go back to home and tell them to take him back with his mother.

As quickly as he could, he wiped his tears. This was it. The door didn’t creak this time, so he opened it softly. Voices were heard from the other side.

“Viktor, we can’t do this,” the man’s voice crawled into his ears. It was that horrible Russian, so he understood part of it. “It’s a child.”

“I know but, I’m the only thing he has left,” Viktor started talking again. His voice was strained, as if holding something back he didn’t want to say. Or couldn’t say.

“How are we going to explain him…anything!” The man seemed altered, refusing to look at Viktor in the eyes. He was talking faster and faster, tripping over his words. “How are we going to explain him he’s different from other, how are we going to explain him his situation is different from the others…how are we going to explain him his mother…”  
His voice was trembling, coming to a full stop with a chocked sob.

“Yuuri…” the chair was moved, Viktor had gotten up, and hurried to the man’s side. From behind the door, Yurio saw him embrace Yuuri, rubbing his shoulder slightly.

“Viktor…” the sob came out messy and breathless. “How are we going to explain him about us?”

Silence. Dead silence filled the room.

“The same as everyone else,” he reassured. “What we are doing isn’t wrong.”

“I know but…” he doubted his next words. “I’m scared.”

They separated from each other, and Viktor looked at Yuuri’s eyes. He wiped away the tears. Yuri did the same to Viktor’s.

“So am I,” his voice no longer confident. Almost vulnerable. “But I can't leave him alone. Not now.”

“You have such a big heart, Viktor,” Yuuri smiled.

“Everything will be alright, my love,” at the silly name, Yuuri giggled. “We’ll figure it out.”

Yuri closed the doors as their face came closer together. The scene didn't do anything more than confuse him more than he already was. He looked across the room, wondering just what was happening. With everything.

The wind howled, startling Yurio. He looked through the window that showed him the garden there was down the apartment. Rain poured down like a waterfall, making it difficult to see beyond a few meters away.

Slowly, he climbed back up to the bed. The suitcases were there, he rummaged in them until he found his mother’s scarf. It was still clean, and he could even smell the perfume lingering in it, fruits and flowers. He held it tight to his body, and refused to let a single tear spill. Then he waited. He waited until the sounds outside the room became silent.

He opened the door again, this time even slower. The lights were turned off, so he tiptoed until he reached the table near the front door. Keys rested in it. It wasn’t easy for Yurio to reach for them, but he somehow managed. He stared at them. They were Viktor’s. A Keychain dangled from it. A little skating shoe and a broken heart. There something written inside it, but Yurio didn’t understand what it said. He shrugged, thinking it mustn't mean anything.

The key fit perfectly. He turned it, and turned it, until the clicking sound came to a stop. He pushed the door, cringing at the creak. In fear that maybe they would follow, Yurio quickly got out and shut the door, keys still in his hands. He began running. The rain immediately soaked him up, and yet he didn’t care. For a moment, he decided to look at the garden, all covered in mud and the roses, although pretty, weren’t as lively. He closed his eyes, and then came to the thought that he was holding on to the keys from Viktor’s apartment. He glared at them, angry at many things and decided to toss them, not caring where they fell. Then, he continued to run as fast as he could, going down the stairs and then dashing through the streets. There was no real plan for him to follow, he simply began running. Hopefully, once he had gone far enough, he could find his way back to home.

He ran until his legs couldn’t keep up with him anymore, forgetting all together to look where he was going. His throat hurt from the cold wind hitting him, and the scarf his mother had given him was barely helping him. With a frown, he looked up, hoping to find where to go. His blood turned cold when he stared at the signs. They were obviously written in symbols he didn’t understand. Where exactly was he? He had slept most of the time in his way to Viktor’s house, so it came to his surprise to see that even the little he knew of how to communicate came to no use.

Furious, at the stupid language, at this stupid place with its stupid people, but more than anything at his stupid self, Yurio began running again. The squeaking of his sneakers, wet and hitting against the slippery floor was the only thing he heard. His breath came out more and more ragged with each step he took, until it finally took a giant toll in his throat. He stopped all of the sudden, feeling dizzy.

He looked around. He was lost, he was freezing and yet his body felt like burning up.

_Don’t cry_

He reminded himself. Yet it was so difficult. Where was his mom? Where was home? Where was he? Millions of question without a single answer kept swimming in his head. And although they had no answer, a single sentence kept repeating itself, as if a charm or something.

_I wanna go home._

_I wanna go home._

_Mama, I wanna go home._

Steps were no more than that, steps. He couldn’t keep running, it was only sheer determination to go home what carried his feet to keep moving. He was hungry, he was cold, and lonely.

Just as his legs were about to give out, he found a bench near a river where to sit. It was cold, it made him shiver and wish he was anywhere else. He took his mother’s scarf, now damp and a little dirty. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought it along…

A strong gush of wind blew it away from hi hands. Scared to lose something so precious, Yurio hurried to run to catch it. It fell to the river. Without a second thought, he did to.

He held dear to it, not wishing to part from his mother yet. Even when the water, cold, freezing, pierced his skin and lungs, he remained holding it.

_Mama…I wanna go home…_

“Yurio!” He heard someone scream, yet it sounded so distant. In the cold feeling that surrounded him, and just before he completely closed his eyes, he managed to feel something soft and warm against him. It wasn’t unpleasant.

He doesn’t remember a lot from that night aside from that. He does remember Viktor’s worried look when he half opened his eyes. He remembers Yuuri carrying him when they got to the apartment, and the sound of the rain hitting the window. He remembers his bed. Warm. Warm. Warm. And soft.

He remembers a figure standing next to him, when he was half asleep. A man singing a lullaby, it wasn’t a familiar one, not even sung in Russian, but he knew the melody. He also remembers his hand, softly rubbing his head, and how pleasant it felt. He remembers muttering something along the lines of ‘Mama’ but it was so blurry he wasn’t even sure if it happened. He hoped it didn’t.

And then he woke up. With the light of the sun hitting his face. The room was exactly as he remembered, white walls, white sheets, two suitcases . He sat up, and felt something heavy next to his feet. He glanced down to see Yuuri, sleeping. Yuuri sat on the floor, his head resting next to Yurio’s feet, and he looked somewhat pale. Yurio wondered what happened.

He turned his head, and next to him he saw his mother’s scarf. It looked as good as new, what made him smile in an instant. He took it in his arms, breathing in as he held it. But. It no longer held her mother’s perfume. Or at least, not as intense as it had been. Now it also smelled as some other detergent. It wasn’t the same.

“I see you woke up,” he looked up to see Viktor. He was wearing a simple t-shirt, unlike the other days when he came in with a suit. He looked normal, as normal as someone like him could get, as he walked to Yuuri. “Yuuri, the food.”

As if a charm, Yuuri woke up. He exchanged a few words in that foreign language with Viktor, and stood up. He gave one last look at Yurio.

“Call me if you need anything, okay?” And he left.

Silence fell again, as Yurio didn’t know what to say.

“Yurio,” Viktor began, and he sat down on the other side of the bedroom. Yurio felt a shiver run up his spine. Viktor looked serious, almost angry. “Why did you run away?”  
Yurio didn’t answer. Instead, he kept on hugging the scarf, regardless of the fact it no longer held his mother’s perfume.

“Did we do something wrong?” Viktor asked again, this time a tint or worry painting his words. “We were really worried.”

Yurio turned his head, unwilling to meet eyes. He felt his own chest constricting at the thought of worrying these people. They shouldn’t worry, he was no more than a stray cat at this point. His mother wasn’t near, and he almost ran away from home.

“Yurio,” Viktor raised his voice, startling him. It was heavy with that Russian accent that seemed to break through walls. “Are you listening to-?”

“Shut up!” Yurio screamed all of the sudden. His eyes were hurting from holding back the tears, and he still decided to glare. He was tired of feeling so helpless, and so lost. “I wanna go home! I wanna eat piroshki! I wanna see Mama, I wanna go home!”

Viktor held his gaze, as intense as Yurio had thrown it. Neither backed off, pride to strong to do so. Or well, until Viktor sighed.

“It’s complicated,” Viktor said, staring at the ceiling, marveling how to exactly tell Yurio what had happened. Out of the corner of his eyes, Yurio saw him play with a ring on his finger. It was golden and simple, seriously something was engraved on them, but he couldn’t make the words out. “Sestra, I mean, Anzhela…Your mother. What do you think happened to her?”

“She didn’t come back home,” Yurio explained. It wasn’t unusual for his mother to come back home late at night. That was how she was, never home, barely there. She wasn’t unkind, just a little forgetful. That was all. “I’m sure there’s a mistake! She’s back home, I know it!”

“ _I’m sorry, I won’t be home early,” her mother smiled. Even with her pretty smile and pretty dress, Yuri felt bitterness crawl up his chest. She was going with a man again. Still Yuri smiled at her, complimenting her make up, and her porcelain skin. “You’ll be a good boy for Mama, won’t you, Yurushka?”_

_“I will, mama,” and that’s the last thing he remembers of her. Her silhouette leaving the front door, the smell of her favorite perfume and the natural gleam her eyes had as she waved goodbye._

_That was the last thing he remembered._

“I see,” Viktor’s eyes were unreadable, it scared him to think about what would happen. “Your mother isn’t back in Russia.”

“Where is she then?” Yurio asked, beginning to feel a trail of sweat run down his back. He didn’t like how this sounded.

“She…can’t really take care of you right now,”Viktor spoke slowly, watching his words carefully. Yurio nodded, ever so slowly. Viktor looked down to the floor. “Shes off visiting someone up in the heavens, you know?”

Yurio didn’t understand what Viktor was saying. He remembered how his mother always talked about a heaven and a god, even if in his mind Yurio couldn’t fully grasp what she kept talking about. .

“She…She doesn’t want me anymore?” Yurio’s voice began quivering, unsure and hesitant. Vikto’s eyes widened, and hurry to Yurio’s side.

“No, no ,no, Yurio,” in a rushed attempt to make him feel better, Viktor held Yurio’s hands. “She loves you, she loves you more than anything in the world. I’m sure if it had been in her hands, she would still be here…but sometimes god has other plans…”

Even Yurio could see the hesitation in the word ‘god’. He chose not to say anything about it, but still trust Viktor’s words.

“What’s going to happen then?” Yurio’s hand were trembling in between Viktor’s. It went by unsaid how scared he was.

“We’ll take care of you,” Viktor’s eyes were nothing like the woman’s back in russia. They were so similar to his mother’s. They were kind, and even a little proud. “I know it’s not much, but we’ll try your best for this to be your new home.”

Yurio’s heart clenched at that word. Home.

“I don’t know…” he looked away. “You don’t have piroshki…”

“Ah, you’re right…” his voice sounded fake. Like a hidden giggle, which made Yurio want to glare. He turned to see Viktor’s smile. A voice came from the hallway. “Oh, dinner is ready! Come here, Yurio.”

Viktor carried Yurio in his arms and walked out of the room, into the hallway.

“Ah, Yurio. Are you feeling better?” Yuuri was standing in the dining table, bowls of freshly made food were in front of the seats. Yuuri was also smiling, but his eyes were puffy. Yurio wondered what he had cried for.

“Yuuri was also really worried about you, you know?” As if readin what he was thinking, Viktor told him the answer to what he was thinking. Yurio just hummed in response.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make your favorite food Yurio,” Yuuri said with an apologetic look, as Viktor put down Yurio.

“Its okay I guess,” Yurio sat down on the table. In all honesty, Yurio didn’t feel all that comfortable with not eating piroshki, but he knew that he shouldn’t bother these two more than he already had.

“I’m really sorry,” Yuuri apologized again, but then he smiled. “So, I decided to make you something really delicious!”

“Huh?” Yurio asked, and looked over at Viktor. He was smiling too.

“Yuuri’s food is amazing,” Viktor said proudly. “The reason why he’s so chubby is because he cooks the most delicious food ever!”

“I’m not that good,” Yurio saw the blush creeping up Yuuri’s face, and the proud look Viktor gave him. “I hope you like it Yurio. Katsudon is the family’s recipe. I’m quiet confident on this one.”

They all sat down to eat. It was already noon, Viktor said he steeped through the night and morning, but it was understandable since seemingly Yurio had gotten a cold. It was…weird. His mother always coming and going from the house, meals were always lonely or rushed. Having such a lively dinner with the light chat of Viktor and Yuuri, even if he didn’t understand what they were saying, was nice.

Yurio brought the spoon to his mouth and took a bite of it.

“Ah!” He said, startling Viktor and Yuuri. “It’s good!’

Both male laughed, and Yurio felt his cheeks heat up.

“I’m glad you liked it,” Yuuri smiled. He was using chopstick instead of a spoon, and Yurio wondered if someday he would have to use them too.

“Now that I think about it,” Viktor said in Russian, poking at Yurio. “I think I have my sister’s piroshki recipe somewhere in the house. How about we try it next week?”

Yurio kept looking at the people sitting next and in front of him. They weren’t bad people, probably all the contrary, they were really nice. It wasn’t Russia, it wasn’t piroshki what he was eating, but he couldn’t bring himself to hate the idea of living here. 


	2. Chapter 2

The next time Yurio woke up, he found the apartment filled with noise. It wasn’t bad noise, like screams or banging doors, but the frying pan cooking and the washing machine working. Yurio got up, ready to go check what was happening outside, when he felt something odd against his skin. He turned to see a plushie next to him. A cat would have been amazing, but instead he found a…pig. 

‘It’s ugly,’ was his first thought, still he reached for it. The material was soft, soft enough for Yurio to not want to let it go. It also smelled nice. Like detergent and perfume. The detergent was the same everything in his bed carried, it was familiar and nice. The perfume though…he was sure he had smelled it before but couldn’t pinpoint were. Still, it blended seamlessly with the detergent, which made him hug the plushie even more. 

“Piggy…” he said in a whisper. He didn’t dare to let it go, so he got out of the bed, still holding the larger than him pig in his arms. “Viktor!”

“Yurio!” As soon as Yurio was out in the corridor he was met by the tall Russian with his arms wide open. “I was about to call you for breakfast. What are you carrying?”

“A pig.” He said proudly, showing off his plushie. “It was in my bed when I woke up.”

“It’s really cute,” Viktor laughed, Yurio hugged it even tighter. “Yuuri! Look what Yurio found!” 

At the mention of his name, Yuuri turned around. Yurio watched as his face went from curious, to shocked to confused and then shame, all in the span of about three seconds. Yuuri really did have a wide range of emotions. 

“Oh, no…” Yuuri buried his face in his hands, to what Viktor laughed and Yurio was confused. “That old thing…”

“What’s wrong with Piggy?” Yurio used the Russian words for piggy ‘Porosenok’, what seemed to make Yuuri even more flustered and Viktor more amused. 

Viktor was the one who seemed to realize that Yurio was asking for an explanation, and was the one willing to give it. 

“That’s a gift I gave Yuuri during our first date,” Viktor recalled with a huge grin in his face. Yuuri was still dying in the corner of the kitchen. “He was so cute and chubby back then that I ended up calling him ‘Piggy’ all the time! It was so much fun! So, when our first date came, I gifted him this little guy here.”

“Don’t remind me…” Yuuri was still blushing till the tips of his ears, but wore a tired look. “After that I kept being thrown pig plushies during my performances.”

“You never kept those right?” Viktor asked.  
“I had more than enough with that one,” Yuuri sighed.

Yurio was left hugging the pig, and although confused, he realized what he was holding. It was gift Viktor had given Yuuri during an important time. He wasn’t entirely sure what they meant with ‘date’, but he guessed it was something that they held dear. Still… he gripped it tighter. He didn’t want to let go. It felt right in his hands, and with everything that was going on, something that felt ‘right’ was the only thing he wanted. But he couldn’t keep something that wasn’t his, no matter how ‘right’ it felt. He needed to let it go. 

Just when he was about to leave it in the room again, a voice called. He raised his head to meet a pair of brown eyes staring at him with compassion and happiness. 

“You can keep it,” Yuuri said from the kitchen. Yurio stared, unsure of what his words meant. “You like it, don’t you? I hope it makes you feel like this place is a little more like home.”

Without even taking a moment to consider what he was doing, Yurio’s mouth broke into the biggest smile his lips could manage. Eyes wide and happy, staring at the man who was cooking with a silly baby blue apron with a smile and kind eyes directed at him. He couldn't help squeezing the pig tighter, out of overflowing happiness. 

“Yurio,” Viktor said, making him freeze. For some reason, Yurio thought he was in trouble, with a shiver running down his spine. But when he turned to see Viktor, he realized it was all the contrary. Viktor smiled with that same kindness that came from Yuuri. “What do we say?”

“Thank you?” Yurio offered slightly nervous. Viktor shook his head slightly, and pointed towards Yuuri. Yurio scoffed, not wanting to admit he was flattered by the fact the man had gifted him the plushie. 

Still, he remembered Mama’s voice in his head. So, reluctantly, he neared Yuuri with a pout. Slowly, he tugged the apron which effectively made Yuuri turn to him. 

“What is it?” Yuuri asked, wiping his hands on the apron and kneeling down to look at Yurio in the eyes. Yurio wished he hadn’t, since now the man would see the blush creeping up his cheeks. 

“Thank…you…” Yurio managed to say, hiding half of his body with the plushie he was holding. 

“------“ Yuuri said something in exchange which Yurio didn’t understand in the slight less. He turned to see Viktor, silently pleading for an explanation. 

“It means ‘You’re welcome’,” Viktor offered from the counter. “Yuuri, you should practice your Russian more…” 

“Well, your Japanese isn’t exactly amazing either,” Yuuri remarked. Instead of a fight, Yurio was surprised by the fact Viktor simply laughed, and so did Yuuri. 

“Touché, my dear,” the last bit fell deaf to Yuuri’s ears since it was said in english. 

“What does ‘touché’ mean?” Yurio asked out of the nowhere. Yuuri was the one who answered this time. 

“It’s french for ‘I surrender’,” he explained calmly, as he returned to cooking. It was almost ready, if the delicious smell served of any guide for Yurio. 

“How do you know so many weird words?” Yurio asked again. He eagerly saw how Yuuri turned the stove off and began taking the plates out of the cupboards. 

“Well, Viktor is from Russia, I’m from Japan. We need to know a lot of words to communicate,” Yuuri offered as an explanation and, with the food ready, Yurio took it as such.

“I need to know many weird words too?” Yurio asked, following Yuuri towards the table that was already set. The plates were put down and Yurio stared hungrily at them, while Viktor sat down next to him. Yurio left Piggy, sitting on the only chair left. This made both Yuri and Viktor look at each other, but said nothing about it, instead smiling in support. 

“Maybe,” Viktor confessed, waiting for Yuuri to finish his work so they could all eat together. “Since Yuuri’s Russian is really bad…”

“Hopefully,” Yuuri sighed, cutting off Viktor and finally sitting down, after serving the last plate. “You won’t need to learn Japanese, it is quite difficult and maybe you won’t even really need it.”

“Why?” Yurio asked but he was not really paying attention to many of the things they were saying, he was far more interested in the food that stood in front of him, delicious and pretty. 

“If everything goes right, one day we’ll get to move somewhere else,” Viktor said with a sigh. “Maybe England, or Switzerland. Chris would help us if we asked.”

“Yeah, that would be nice…” Yuuri smiled at the idea. “Although I'm not so sure about asking Chris for help…”

“That’s so far away…” Yurio exclaimed, suddenly surprised by the conversation. 

“It’ll be closer to Russia, you know?” Viktor said and, unable to hold himself back, he started eating. Not before saying some weird word Yurio couldn’t understand. Yuuri said it too, and started eating, leaving Yurio to wonder if he should say it.

“Iaamasana,” he tried repeating what they said, but was meet with confused stares. “What?”

“What are you trying to do?” Viktor asked, holding back his laughter, which pissed Yurio off.

“What you are doing!” He exclaimed, looking down in his plate with embarrassment. 

“It’s ‘Itadakimasu’, Yurio,” Yuuri said in a calm tone, but he was obviously also trying hard not to laugh. “It means ‘I’ll take it’. You don’t need to say it, it’s just a habit.”

Still, Yurio felt his cheeks rise up in heat. This was so embarrassing. 

“How about you say it in Russian instead?” Viktor offered, after seeing how affected Yurio was. “It’ll be easier for you to say it.”

“Okay,” Yurio took it, and started eating. It was as good as he has expected, probably a little more. 

“Viktor, are you going out today?” Yuuri asked, in between bites. 

“Yes, I’ll go work for a bit,” he answered, a little unsure himself. 

“Oh, then can you go to the store? I need you to buy something for dinner,” Yuuri beamed at the idea, and Viktor sighed, unable to refuse. 

“Sure, are you going to the ice rink today?” Yurio realized Viktor’s plate was bigger than his. It was probably obvious, since he was also a lot bigger than Yurio but still. Yurio thought it was favoritism. 

“Yuuko needs some help,” Yuuri nodded. “I’ll be back before six.”

“Umm…then you should take the keys,” Viktor wondered, as he finished what was inside of his plate. “I’ll be home late today.”

“Don’t overwork yourself, okay ?” Yuuri reminded him, and in turn Viktor laughed. 

“You shouldn’t be the one telling that to me,” Viktor said cheerfully. 

“Hump,” Yuuri agreed silently, unable to prove him wrong. 

Yurio kept eating, without taking notice of the background movement that was happening. Yuuri might be weird, he thought to himself, but his food was the most delicious ever. It didn’t matter he didn’t know how to make piroshki. Once he was finished, he got up to put the plate on the sink, and then he realized Yuuri wasn’t in the kitchen. He turned his head towards the main door, and was surprised with what he saw. 

“Take care,” Yuuri gave Viktor his coat, in the hallways that lead to the door. Yurio stared curiously. “Come home early, okay?”

“There’s nothing that I would like more,” Viktor said in a really low voice. “I love you.”

Although Yuuri was blushing to the tips of his ears, he still smiled with a kindness that seemed even foreign to Yurio. 

“I love you more,” he teased, biting his lips. 

“No, I love you more,” Viktor neared Yuuri, smile as giant as the sea in his lips. They inched even closer. Yuuri closed his eyes, as did Viktor, gently bringing his hands up to the other’s face. “More than anything.” He breathed. 

And they kissed. It was warm and fuzzy, unlike any other kiss he had seen. His mother never kissed another man with such…tenderness. They were either quick or soft or something Yurio shouldn’t even see. They all seemed like rushed and not really necessary but this one…

Even if not necessary, you could see how they both needed it. There was longing and a sweet feeling that crawled up Yurio’s chest. It looked out of a romantic movie, but even those were bland in comparison. 

Also, it was cheesy as fuck. 

“Gross!” Yurio yelled, startling both. “I’m eating! Couple stuff is so gross!”

It took the idiot couple a few seconds to snap out of it, but as soon as they did, Yuuri was blushing to the tips of his ears, hiding his face in his hands and muttering incomprehensible things, while Viktor seemed annoyed. 

Nervously, both bid their goodbyes, and Yuuri closed the door in a hurried motion. Yurio saw him almost run towards the sink, and began to wash the dishes. 

Yurio saw the ordeal yet thought nothing of it. At least, before he saw that Yuuri took off something from his hands, which peeked the child’s interest. 

It was a ring. A beautiful golden ring that was a perfect fit in Yuuri’s finger. It was simple, something was engraved on it, but Yurio couldn't even notice what it was. He recalled his mother telling him bedtime stories, and he quickly made a connection.

“Mom said rings means you’re married,” Yurio said, nearing the sink, and as he did so, he saw Yuuri flinch and freeze. He wondered why. “Are you married?”

“No,” Yuuri said in a low voice. “I..can’t get married.”

“Why?” Yurio asked out of curiosity, without noticing the tremble in Yuuri’s voice. He was just a child asking, but it was a difficult question. 

“It’s…complicated,” was everything Yuuri managed to say. “Besides, I just got engaged. It would take a while to actually marry the one I love.”

“Are you marrying Viktor?” Yurio asked again. He was only half interested in the talk, more entertained with the fridge and colorful glasses on the shelves, unaware of how his question affected Yuuri. 

“I…really hope I do,” only then was when Yurio came to notice how nervous Yuuri was, even if just a little bit. He didn’t understand why he was so nervous. “Someday, at least.”

“Okay,” Yurio felt a little annoyed by the fact he needed to stay with the copy cat Yuuri, but he guessed he could be off worst, so he decided to silently wander around the kitchen, in hopes to find something interesting to do. 

“I’m sorry,” out of the nowhere, Yuuri said, startling Yurio. Okay, for starters, there were many things this Yuuri should be apologizing, such as being called Yuuri and not knowing how to make piroshki. But he didn’t apologize for that, in fact, he apologized for something that seemed so weird in Yurio’s mind. “I’m sure it’s difficult to live with…us…”

“I miss Russia,” Yurio said as a matte of fact, but he locked his eyes with Yuuri’s. “But this is not a bad place.”

“You said it was gross…” Yuuri smiled sadly. “I guess it’s a little too weird to see us kiss another man.”

“Kisses are weird and gross,” Yurio showed his tongue in disgust. “Gross with a woman and gross with a man. You are sharing saliva, why would you do that?”

For a moment, Yuuri stared, which only annoyed Yurio more. But then he let out a huge sigh. He turned with teared up eyes, and looked at Yurio with relief. Go figure out why, in Yurio’s opinion. 

“Yeah, kisses are gross,” Yuuri laughed, weirding out Yurio. “But, once you have your first, you can’t really stop.”

“Well, then I’ll never kiss anyone,” Yurio made a face, and Yuuri continued laughing in relief. 

Yurio then found a piece of paper and a pencil, with nothing better to do, he began drawing. In his opinion, it was turning out incredible. They sat there in silence, until Yuuri finished washing the dishes. Just as Yuuri was putting the apron in a drawer, his eyes fell into the keys resting in the counter. A pang of guilt fell into his chest.

“Hey, Yurio,” Yuuri began saying, making Yurio take his eys from the keys. “If..if Viktor and me got married…would you be okay with it? I mean, we’ll probably be taking care of you for some time so…”

“Well…I don’t know…” Yurio faked the pondering, he hummed then whistled, half enjoying how nervous Yuuri seemed. After a while of teasing grinned. “If I can eat all desserts I want during the party…I will!”

Yuuri seemed surprised but didn't argue.

“Sure…I don’t see why not.” He replied without hesitation.

“Oh, and I want to be the boy who walks with the rings!” He exclaimed, suddenly excited at the idea. He remembers his mother telling him about weddings when he was younger. He wanted to be that one. 

“Okay,” Yuuri laughed, and Yurio huffed his cheeks. 

“Don’t laugh! You need to keep your promise if you get married!” He exclaimed.

“I will,” even with a smile on his face, Yurio could sense Yuuri was being serious. Yuuri kneeled and showed Yurio his pinkie. “It’s a promise, okay?”

“Yeah, a promise,” unsure if it was some weird custom or not, Yurio wrapped his pinkie around Yuuri’s. “Don’t you dare forget it!”

“I would never dream of,” Yuuri got up, and started walking towards the door. “I’ll do a couple of things more in the house, and then we can go out, okay?”

“Yeah,” Yurio agreed, and turned to the keys. “I thought…I thought…”

“What is it?” Yuuri asked innocently, which made Yurio feel more guilty. 

“The keys,” he began, but couldn't find how to continue. “What…what does the heart say ?”

“Oh,” Yuuri picked them up, staring longingly at them. “It’s incomplete. My keys had the other side of the heart…when you join them, it’s supposed to say “together forever’ in english.”

“Why english?” Yurio asked curiously. 

“When we first met, Viktor didn’t know Japanese and I didn’t know Russian. We communicated in english,” Yuuri explained, putting them down. “We saw it when we visited Detroit half a year ago. We thought it was cute.”

“Oh,” was all Yurio could say, guilt swallow him whole. The keys were something important for both of them and he had thrown them out. He shouldn’t have done that...

“Don’t worry,” Yuuri ruffled Yurio’s hair and headed into the washing machine room. “Let me get the laundry ready and we’ll go outside, okay?”

Yurio nodded and watched as Yuuri disappeared in behind the door. He then stared at Piggy, who was sitting in the fourth chair of the dinning table, just sitting.

“You’re lucky you’re stuffed,” he glared at it, but couldn’t really feel angry at it. He sighed, and turned to see the keys. This was a bad idea, but if he stopped again, he would feel even more guilty. He took them from the counter and thanked everything that it hadn’t rained all morning. He opened the door and went to the garden, hoping the rain hadn’t washed away the keys

He wasn’t even sure how long he spent searching for those stupid keys. He searched in the magnolias, and the roses, and even went as far as to scratch the ground a bit in hopes they were somehow buried. They weren’t near the trees or under the cars, and the garden started looking too small, and the keys too not here. By the end of it, he was covered in dirt, smelled sweet as flowers, and he keys were nowhere near to being found. Just where were they?

He was about to give up and return to the apartment, when he saw a little silver thing in between the thorns of the roses. His eyes gleamed as he realized what it was. He tripped as he stood up, and a giant grin sprawled in his face.

“There they are!” He almost screamed, and launched to get them. He flinched when his hands were caught in the thorns, but soon thought nothing of it. He needed to get the keys. Once they were firmly grasped in his hands, he pulled out, trying not to tear up with how painful it was. It was worth it in the end. There they were, the cute keys with a heart and a skating shoe dangling from them. They were so cheesy they were gross.

“Yurio!” He heard someone call his name, and immediately he recognized as Yuuri’s voice. How long had he been searching? He hoped not long, or he was going to get scolded for sure. Quickly, he got up and hurried to the stairs that lead to the second floor. He was about to start climbing them when Yuuri came rushing down. “Oh my god Yurio, are you okay?!”

Yurio nodded, but the man seemed to have gone blind, and paid no attention to that. He instead chose to inspect him from head to toe, only to turn white when he saw his hands bleeding. 

“What were you doing?!” He asked, taking his hands. Yurio couldn’t help thinking Yuuri’s hands were nice. Smooth and warm, a little smaller than Viktor’s but still big enough to make him feel safe while holding them. 

“Here,” Yurio opened his hands, showing him the keys proudly. “I found them.”

All panic was lost I the moment Yuuri saw the keys. Eyes gone from scared to loving, and the grip on his hands loosened. 

“Thank you,” it was said in a whisper, one that only Yurio heard. It made Yurio’s heart jump in pride. He had done good. Good enough to be thanked. “You did well, Yurio. Let’s get your wounds treated, shall we?”

Yurio nodded, and followed the older man’s steps. 

“It hurts!” Yurio yelped when the alcohol rubbed against his wounds. “Yuuri, you idiot, it hurts!”

“Sorry, but we need to make sure it doesn’t get infected,” Yuuri said with a nervous smile. “Say, Yurio, have you ever ice skated?”

“Not really, why?” He took back his hands, once they were covered in bandages. It still hurt, but he wasn’t about to say it hurt twice in a day. 

“Well, how about I teach you? My friend owns an ice skating rink, and I’m supposed to be teaching little kids. You can join in, if you want.”

“Sounds fun, I guess,” Yurio agreed to Yuuri's relief. 

“Shall we head there?” Yurio simply nodded, unconsciously taking Yuuri’s hand as they got out. 

Turns out, Ice skating is the best and worst thing to ever happen to Yurio. Worst since he can’t seem to stay up for more than a second and best because…

“This is fun!” Yurio said, as he took Yuuri’s hand. Yuuri was really good at this, so he could easily have fun in the ice rink in his first time being there. Not that he wouldn’t either way. It was such a thrill to see everything move fast when he moved in his skates. 

“------,” a woman's voice called from the other side of the rink. It was said in that weird language that Yurio couldn’t figure out. He turned his head to see her walk around the rink towards them. She was pretty. 

Both adult started talking, leaving Yurio standing alone not knowing what he should say. He started practicing alone unaware of what the people were talking. He fell as soon as he tried to skate alone. But Yurio was no quitter and kept trying to skate on his own. 

“Yurio!” Yuuri called, and saw he had gone a little far from the edge. Taking a deep breath, he started skating back. For such a long distance, he managed to do pretty well in his opinion. 

“You really are Viktor’s nephew…” Yuuri laughed, and to this Yurio was only confused. “Never mind, this my friend, Yuko, say hi.”

He stared at the woman, happy and cheerful in a way that seemed odd but not necessarily unpleasant. 

“Hello,” she said in a really bad Russian, she was most likely just copying what Yuuri had taught her. “My name is Yuuko. Pleased to meet you.”

“I’m Yuri,” he extended his hand, which she happily took. 

“Oh, Yuri!” She laughed and turned to Yuuri. She said something to Yuuri, and she tuned again. “Yurio?”

Yurio nodded, a little annoyed. He liked his name, he didn’t want that nickname, but he guessed it was better than getting confused. 

In all honesty, the whole living in another place thing was horrible. Not so much for the fact he was eating new food, Yuuri made it the best experience to be honest, but because he couldn’t understand a single thing anyone else said. They all talked in a cheerful voice and a little high pitched, it was so different to Russian, where each word was heavily accentuated. 

She waved goodbye soon, and Yuuri turned his attention back to Yurio. 

“She’s a nice person,” he said, “if you ever need help, and you can’t tell us, you can go to her.”

Yurio nodded. As they kept skating, Yurio realized how fun this could be. Yuuri could do some tricks, such as going faster and even dancing a little to the music they put in the stereo. A song that was quite known played, and at this Yuuri started dancing slightly. It made Yurio laugh, and he tried to mimic them, without a real positive outcome. He tried again, making Yuuri smile.

“Wait here,” Yuuri suddenly stopped, letting Yurio rest agains the glass. He winked at Yurio, who just snorted. He thought Yuuri was going to do some turn, like he was doing before with little kids. 

He was wrong. 

Yuuri jumped from the ice, doing a turn in the air, and then landed flawlessly in the ice, with one foot. Yurio could just stare with his mouth agape. 

“So cool…” he found himself whispering as Yuuri neared him once again. 

“I’m getting a little rusty…” Yuuri laughed slightly. I guess it can’t be helped after a year without touching the ice. 

“How can you do that!?” Yurio asked, really energetic. “I want to do that!” 

“Oh well, I used to compete…” Yuuri said, a little embarrassed. “If you want to try, why don’t we start first with a small turn? I’m sure Yurio will be able to do that.”

“I will!” Yurio smiled proudly. After a while, Yuuri had to teach some other guys, but Yurio was confident in his abilities. He continued to practice as the customer came and went, until he managed to skate a few meters without falling, and finally turning slightly with a pose. “Yuuri! You saw that?!”

A clap came from behind him, he turned with a smile to see Viktor standing proudly outside the rink. 

“Yurio! You are so amazing! You have a talent for this!” Yuuri seemed really happy that Yurio managed to do this much, so he started mating some more. “Ah, Viktor!”

“Hey, honey. I got out of work early, how about we head home together? Maybe we could get Yurio an ice cream for doing so well,” Viktor smiled at both of them, making Yurio try his new acquired trick once again. He heard both of them cheer at him, and Yurio grinned. 

Without really meaning to, he continued, he moved across the ice twirling and moving, this time he could almost do the same things that Yuuri did when he danced. To say he was happy and proud was an understatement, specially when Viktor kept complimenting him, and Yuuri kept teaching him how to dance. 

“I used to go to ballet,” he told Yurio as they continued. “It helps to ice skate, you could try it, if you want.”

“Yeah, I want to try it,” he smiled, filled with excitement. He knew he could do this, and felt like he would be good enough. 

This felt just right. Right like did Piggy, and right like Yuuri’s food did. Right just like calling Yuuri and Viktor his home. 

And in this moment, there was nothing Yurio liked more than the word “Right”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was fun writing this, and I wanted to finish it before the season finale....mostly because I was being so nervous I needed to take my mind somewhere else. 
> 
> On a side note, thank you so much everyone who gave this kudos or commented, I had never received so much support for my work. It was really sweet to see that so many people liked it, it really did melt my heart. Hopefully I'll be updating next week, if my family allows me to do so during holidays. 
> 
> Ps: I forgot to mention this before but I would like to thank @wing-spiker (their tumblr) who are barely in the fandom yet showed were my beta reader for the first chapter. (Also if anyone were interested, I do need a beta reader now)


	3. Chapter 3

Adopting wasn’t in the picture of Yuuri’s near future. He had discussed it with Viktor one night and came to the conclusion that they weren’t quite ready yet. It wasn’t that they hated children, it was simply a step too big for them to make. They weren’t even married yet! It had just been a year after Yuuri had retired and many things had to be arranged before it even crossed their minds. That’s why, when Viktor showed up, two years ago, with a little boy standing in their kitchen door, his first reaction had been complete confusion and downright panic.

“Viktor!” He had half yelled, as the child stood in front of them for the first time. “What’s going on?”

“Yuuri,” In an attempt to calm him down, Viktor used his softest voice to calm him down. The one that always seemed to do just that without effort. “I know it seems weird, but we need to take care of him.”

“But,” he exclaimed, looking at the kid. “We can’t…I know I can’t! Taking care of a kid is different than a pet! It’s a human being. We didn’t even plan this, we didn’t even talk about this-”

“I got a call from Russia,” Viktor explained with a pained look that immediately made Yuuri fall silent, since he knew Viktor wasn’t exactly on the best terms with his family. “It was from my sister.”

“Anzhela?” Yuuri frowned. He didn’t completely like her because she had made Viktor go through some horrible things back in Russia, when Viktor and Yuuri had just started dating. “What happened to her?”

“There was a car accident,” As soon as the words left his mouth, Yuuri flinched. This wasn’t going anywhere good. “She didn’t make it.”

“Oh, Viktor, I’m sorry…” Despite everything, Anzhela was part of his family-the only family Viktor had left. He softly tried to reach for Viktor’s shoulders reassuringly, but stopped midway when he saw Viktor’s face. “I know you loved her deeply.”

“I did, but it turns out that she had a kid,” he sighed in disbelief. That desperate look in Viktor’s face broke Yuuri’s heart. “I don’t know why she didn’t tell me, but since our parents are dead…”

Yuuri turned to see the little kid. He seemed so lost, and so confused, and Yuuri couldn’t help but feel the need to protect him.

“He doesn’t have anyone else,” Viktor said. Yuuri breathed out a sigh. Something inside him squeezed at that thought.

“I’m the only thing he has left,” Viktor gave a bitter chuckle. “I know this wasn’t how we planned it but I just can’t leave him, Yuuri, I just…can’t.”

He heard the way Viktor’s voice broke. He wasn’t heartless, and no matter how weird, and completely unexpected this was…

He sighed. Now he had two kids, it seemed. And, in horrible Russian, he introduced himself to the boy.

And now he was standing in the ballet school waiting for Yurio’s class to finish. The class was the same as he remembered it, with it’s big mirror and lights blinding him as he walked into the studio. It came with a nostalgic feeling. Last time he had been here had been to practice his routine for his last Grand Prix. He still chuckled at the memory. The theme for his last season had been “Endings and Beginnings”. He won gold, just like the year before, and silver the one before that one. There were many pleasant memories from that time, although they were certainly some of the roughest times that Viktor and Yuuri have ever had.

“Ah, Yuuri!” Someone called, as he stepped inside of the studio. He looked up to see a bright woman waving at him.

“Minako-sensei,” he greeted cheerfully at his former teacher. “How is everything going?”

“Ah, about that,” She looked at Yurio, who was still practicing his ballet form, “I’m surprised, honestly, it hasn’t even been all that long, barely a year, but he’s already one of the most talented students in my class.”

“Talented, huh?” He laughed under his breath. Yuuri and Viktor knew it wasn’t really talent, but the countless hours Yurio had decided to practice on and off ice, and that’s not even mentioning the advantages of having two former world-champion figure skaters as his guardians.

“I wonder who he takes after,” Minako said, laughing. Yuuri couldn’t stop smiling, proud not to be sure who Yurio followed after, since Viktor and himself were workaholics alike.

“Yurio!” He called, and watched as the boy stopped his movements. Yurio turned to see Yuuri, and beamed. “Time to go home!”

“Did Vitya came?” Yurio asked, looking around, and walked to Yuuri who knelt to pick up Yurio’s bag. It had a cute cat on it, and animal print on the sides. Yurio said it was the best thing ever, and Yuuri didn’t tell him how endearing he found it, mostly, because Yurio hated to be called ‘cute’.

“Did Vitya come?’’ Yuuri corrected Yurio who huffed at being told he was wrong. “And it sounds weird, try to search for another way to say it.”

“Yeah,”

Yuuri could hear how the kid was totally ignoring whatever he sad. It was obvious that Yurio didn’t exactly like him. Well, he didn’t exactly hate him, but at this point Minako was probably in a higher position of affection than Yuuri was. Yuuri sighed as he walked out of the place, waving Minako goodbye.

“What’s for dinner ?”

“I tried to make some Borscht…” Yuuri struggled to say the name out loud and just hoped that Yurio understood what he was trying to say. When they neared the street, Yuuri held Yurio’s hand. “I searched for some recipes, but I’m not sure how it’s supposed to taste…”

“Borscht?” Yurio, even as a six year old who supposedly was still learning how to properly say words, pronounced it almost flawlessly. At the mention of food from Russia, Yurio’s eyes lit up. “Yeah! I really liked Borscht that the lady next door did!”

“Lady next door?” Yuuri found it interesting. “Anzhela didn’t make any?”

“Mom?” Yurio looked up to Yuuri. For a second, Yuuri was worried he had accidentally stepped on a land mine. It hadn’t been that long since his mother had passed away and he wasn’t sure how Yurio felt about her. He was relieved when Yurio smiled softly. “She was super bad!”

“Really?” Yuuri asked.

“Yeah, she couldn’t make even piroshki! It was the lady next door who always gave us food. Mom was always busy, so she barely had time to cook.” Yurio said nonchantlant. Yuuri’s heart felt like it was being torn apart by the way Yurio talked about his mother. As if it were normal to be denied of time with her. “But she made a really good pudding!”

“Pudding?” Yuuri asked. His face lit up as he found a common ground. “Well, my mom makes a great pudding too.”

“Not better than Mom’s,” Yurio frowned at the idea that Yuuri was daring to compare dishes, as if anything could be better than his mother’s pudding. Nevertheless, he didn’t stop listening.

“I’m sure it isn’t,” Yuuri laughed, “But we can try and make some. I’m sure it won’t be as tasty as Anzhela’s but it never hurts to try!”

Yurio stared at Yuuri, and Yuuri couldn’t help but feel nervous Yurio was still a delicate child, who needed the care Yuuri wasn’t sure he could provide. His heart was still healing, from the wound his mother’s dead had left .

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” he tried once again. “We can eat it on the couch when it’s done. Oh, I think Viktor still has The Lion King in DVD. We could watch it if you li-”

“Yes!”

Yuuri felt the grip in his hand tighten. Yurio’s eyes were gleaming, bright and wide at what Yuuri had just said. “I wanna see Simba!”

Yuuri’s eyes softened and he stopped walking, causing Yurio to stare at him curiously. Yuuri kneeled so they could see each other eye to eye.

“Then, it’s a promise,” Yuuri extended his pinkie towards Yurio, who didn’t seem to understand what was happening. “Pinky promise.”

“Pinky promise?” Yurio asked, staring at Yuuri’s pinky. “I still don’t get it…”

“You’ve never done it?” Yuuri laughed a bit. He took Yurio’s pinkie in his own, and chanted in Japanese. “Pinky promise pledge: If you're lying, I'll make you drink a thousand needles. Pinky promised.”

“What did you say?” Yurio didn’t understand a word of what Yuuri had said, and only gave him a confused look . Yuuri gave him a smile.

“I said, ‘Pinky promise pledge: If you're lying, I'll make you drink a thousand needles. Pinky promised,” Yuuri repeated, this time in poor Russian.

“What! You’ll drink a thousand needles if you break your promise?” Yurio quickly let go of Yuuri’s hand, his face pale. “If you do that, you’ll die.”

Yuuri stared a bit confused and then giggled, “Don’t worry, I won’t die.”

Yuuri took Yurio’s hand in his again and said, “I won’t break my promise.”

Yurio simply stared at Yuuri with an emotion in his eyes that Yuuri couldn’t hope to figure out. Then, Yurio looked up, and glared slightly.

“I won’t forgive you if you die,” he said in a voice that was trying to sound threatening, but falling short of the mark. For an instant, Yuuri saw a fear in Yurio’s eyes that struck something inside of him and reminded him of the first instant he saw Yuriotanding right there in front of Viktor. He had seemed so vulnerable at that moment. More like a real child, so unaware of the word. So lost. “I really won’t!”

“Yurio,” Yuuri held his hand. He’d never realized just how _small_ they were. Even in his own supposedly small hands, Yurio’s seemed to want to fade away. They were tiny and soft. A child’s hands. “I won’t die. That’s a promise.”

“You better keep your promise,” Yurio huffed, and Yuuri could almost see the traces of tears in Yurio’s eyes. It made him feel guilty for taking Yurio’s words so lightly.

“I will,” Yuuri laughed, in glee. They kept walking, and Yuuri made sure to keep holding Yurio’s hand tightly, as if to reassure him that he was there, and that he wasn’t going anywhere. Maybe Yurio didn’t realize the significance of his gesture, but it made Yuuri feel better. “I pinky promise.”

They walked to their apartment. It wasn’t the biggest apartment around, but it wasn’t the smallest either. Some could argue that it was a little cramped or that it was a little old, but Yuuri couldn't care less. This was the home he and Viktor had created, and the home where Yurio now lived in. It was perfect in his eyes, not for what it was, but what it had inside it. It was a weird mix of everything Viktor loved, and everything Yuuri held dear. And now, Yurio was part of this home too.

There was nothing Yuuri wished for more than for Yurio to have a small piece of this home too.

“I’m home!” Yurio yelled, as he rushed towards the kitchen, making Yuuri chuckle. Over the past few weeks, Yurio had discovered the ‘I’m home’ custom every Japanese household shared, and he was quite eager to imitate it.

“I’m home,” Yuuri said too, just to humor Yurio, who, as soon as he arrived home, went to the TV. Yuuri couldn’t help but feel a little fondness as he watched the once plain living room turn into a playground for the little kid. It wasn’t normal for Viktor or Yuuri to use it, so it was a good that Yurio did. Toys were sprawled all over the floor, most of them tiger plushy or action figures from different anime. However, despite having so many toys to play with, Yurio’s favorite was Buta, the small pig plushy that Yuuri had gifted him when he had first arrived.

He walked to the kitchen, and checked on the Borscht he has made before going to pick Yurio up. It was still a little warm, and Yuuri glanced to the clock on the wall. It wouldn’t be all that long before Viktor came home. He turned on the stove, leaving the fire on low flame. Yuuri was a firm believer that low fire for long periods of time, made the food taste better.

“Yurio,” Yuuri called, taking out eggs, vanilla and other ingredients into the counter. He frowned. Where had he left his mother’s recipe notebook? Oh, yeah. He turned towards the lowest of the cupboard and called Yurio again. “Yurio! We are making pudding!”

As if Yuuri had said some kind of magic charm, Yurio immediately appeared in the door of the kitchen, startling Yuuri. Yurio’s eyes gleamed as he saw everything in the counter.

“So,” Yuuri flipped through the pages of the notebook. “Vanilla or chocolate pudding?”

Yuuri watched as Yurio shifted his weight between one foot and the other and looked around, genuinely concerned. It seemed like it was a matter of life and death for him. And, seeing that Yurio was indeed a child, it probably was in his mind. Yuuri chuckled internally when he recalled that it was that exact same face the one that Viktor pulled off when he was having an internal debate about something. And, just like Yurio, it was often over something as simple as whether to have chocolate or vanilla pudding for dinner.

“Um,” Yurio began, and the distress was obvious in his eyes as he struggled to say something half coherent. Yuuri stared amused, for a while. “I mean…”

“Oh!” Yuuri faked surprise, and gasped. He was holding back his laughter with the distressed look in Yurio's eyes, “That’s right, Viktor likes chocolate pudding, but I like Vanilla better…man, what to do?”

Yurio stared confused at Yuuri, but it was to be expected. Yuuri felt like an utter fool with the exaggerated expressions he was making.

“You do?” Yurio asked, and Yuuri nodded. Then he sighed, dramatic a the point that far surpassed Viktor on a good day.

“Yeah,” Yuuri frowned and looked at Yurio and put on a gigantic smile, “There is no option then! We’ll have to do both!”

At Yuuri’s words, Yurio’s smile grew. And grew. He seemed so excited over making both types, he was sparkling with joy. Yuuri felt oddly proud for being the one to cause that big smile.

Pudding wasn’t a fancy recipe, in fact it was kind of simple. Yuuri had enjoyed making it ever since he found out it was actually one of Viktor’s favorite desserts. It also brought back thousands of memories from the time he was still young and his mother cooked nice meals at exactly three o’clock in the afternoon.

The smell of a nice meal always reminded him of her caring words when he arrived home after the long, long hours of training. She was the best mom anyone could ask for. He should call her, he thought, especially because after he had announced his engagement with Viktor a little over a month ago, the calls had grown less and less frequent. Not because she had been against the proposal, she was probably the most excited second only to Viktor and Yuuri, but because Yuuri was too insanely busy taking care of Yurio to talk to her. Now that he knew how hard it was to raise a kid, he would definitely send her a bigger gift next Mother’s day.

They set the pudding in tiny plastic containers of different colors. Yuuri made sure to fill every one of them, except for the orange ones. Those were the ones that Yurio insisted on filling. He claimed they were better, simply because they were ‘tiger color’.

“Tiger color, huh?” Yuuri looked down to the containers. An idea popped in his mind, and Yuuri walked to the nearest drawer. Out of it, he took out a sharpie and stole one of the containers Yurio had guarded.

“Hey!” Yurio yelled, growing angry, “that’s mine!”

Instead of answering, Yuuri sat down on the floor, and began drawing in the container. He could feel Yurio’s confused stare as he drew. Of course, Yuuri was far from good at this, so he looked disappointed at the weird looking thing that he had done.

“That’s…” Yurio trailed off as he stared at the container in awe. Then he screamed, “That’s so cool!”

Yurio took the container from Yuuri’s hand, and raised it in the air. His eyes followed it in the light, completely amazed by it. The black stripes that were adorned with black sharpie were messy, and the little tiger face was anything but actually realistic, yet, Yurio looked it as if it were a unique treasure, as if it were the most beautiful thing ever.

“You like it?” Yuuri asked, and Yurio didn’t verbally answer. Instead, he nodded vigorously, still holding the container. “I’m glad!”

“I wanna make one too!” Yurio took one of the other empty containers, and sat down on the floor on the opposite direction to Yuuri’s. He took a pink container, and scribbled on it, as Yuuri simply watched. After he was finished, Yurio grinned. He turned his little container to Yuuri. “Buta!”

It was a pig. It had a small tuned tail, and a pig mouth. It also had glasses. Yuuri's hand reached for his own glasses unconsciously, and Yurio burst in laughter.

“Buta!” He laughed, and gave it to Yuuri, who held it in his hands. “Pig!”

“Oink!” Yuuri said suddenly, making Yurio gasp in surprise. They both laughed.

“Rawwr!” Yurio growled in an attempt to be scary. Of course it wasn’t scary at all, but Yuuri still feigned fright. But doing that was quite difficult when you had an adorable toddler moving his hands like he was a tiger. “I am the great tiger of Russia!”

“Yurio Plisetski!” Yuuri began cheering, and Yurio beamed proudly. “He will be performing tonight, in the Barcelona stadium, to win the gold medal!”

“I will!” Yurio turned around, and began the dancing. It was his latest choreography that Minako was making. It was a child’s performance, but Yuuri couldn’t deny the talent that was blooming in Yurio. His routine was full of elegant movements, but still fierce to the core. It wasn’t possible, after all, to make such beauty without fierceness, especially if Yurio was the one performing.

“And the gold medal goes to Yurio!” Yuuri got up, and took Yurio in his arms. He lifted him up until he was over his head and Yurio laughed. “Ladies and gentleman I have never seen such a marvelous performance!”

“I’m home,” a voice from the door called, Yuuri recognized it immediately.

“Vitya!” Yurio wriggled out of Yuuri’s arms and ran towards the man who just came in. Yuuri watched from the doorframe of the kitchen with a soft smile.

“Vitya, Vitya! I won gold medal!”

“You did?” Viktor smiled, and carried Yurio in his arms, as he walked to the kitchen. Yuuri felt his own cheeks blush, when Viktor closed the gap between their bodies, and gave him a small kiss on the lips. It was warm and sweet, just like Viktor’s kisses usually were, and it was enough to make him melt. He faintly heard Yurio saying something along the lines of ‘ _gross_ ’, and a lovesick smile sprawled into his mouth.

“I’m home, my love,” Viktor said softly.

“Welcome back, honey,” Yuuri couldn’t stop smiling. This was the kind of scene that he would have never imagined being part of. A place where he could fit, perfectly almost like a puzzle piece, where there were people who came and went in a lively matter. Yurio’s laugh, especially, was something he could have only imagined in his wildest of dreams. “I made Borscht for dinner.”

Both Yurio and Viktor’s eyes lit up at the mention of food. Yuuri found it amusing just how alike they were. One could easily think they were actually father and son. Especially when Yurio laughed. It was filled with childlike glee, just like Viktor’s and an innocence that overflowed the room.

And it certainly added proof to Yuuri’s theory that Viktor was just a big child.

“Why are you smiling so much, love?” Viktor asked, making Yuuri snap out of his daydream. It only made him smile even more.

“Just thinking about how lucky I am to be here,” Yuuri said and took Viktor’s face in his hands. His heart swelled when he nuzzled his hand in a loving manner. “Come on, let’s eat.”

“Ah, can’t we stay like this for a while?” Viktor sighed, trying to make the moment last forever. Well, to be fair Yuuri also wanted it to last. Maybe only a second longer, maybe a year. He didn’t really care, as long as it lasted longer than it was. Just more. Just one second more.

“I’m hungry,” Yurio whined from Viktor’s arms, startling both of them. They both turned to see the small child, who was faking his death very dramatically, “I will die of hunger.”

First came a chuckle, then a giggle, and finally a laugh. Yuuri held his stomach, bending over as buckets of laugher spilled over. Viktor joined in, and Yurio, who didn’t understand what was going on, did too.

“You are killing your child, Viktor,” Yuuri's words came out before he could stop his lips from moving. His cheeks heated up, the words repeating in his mind over and over. _Your child. Your child. Your child._

“Oh no, I’m killing Yurio!” Viktor let out a dramatic cry as Yurio made more and more fake dying noises. “The only way to revive the prince is by a kiss of true love!”

“No, gross!” Yurio screamed, stopping his fake death abruptly and jumping out of Viktor’s arms. Yurio started laughing, as he ran right behind Yuuri. “Yuuri! Stop Viktor!”

“Well, I could always kiss the _other_ prince in the house,” Viktor suggested, as he walked right in front of Yuuri. It was so cheesy that Yuuri ended up snorting.

“No way!” Yurio ran between Viktor and Yuuri, separating them. “No one is going to kiss anyone until I have my borscht!”

“Just your borscht?” Yuuri asked. Yurio’s eyes gleamed in excitement at this.

“And pudding!” Yurio took Yuuri’s hand in his, and pulled him towards the kitchen. “I wanna eat! I wanna eat! You pinky promised.”

“Alright, alright,” Yuuri giggled at this, and followed the little one into the kitchen. Viktor followed both of them.

“Pinky promise? Pudding?” Viktor rested against the doorframe, as Yuuri searched in the cupboards for the plates. “What happened while I was gone?”

“Pinky promise thing, if I don’t,” Yurio finished, mixing Russian and Japanese –neither of which were correctly pronounced-.

“What’s that?” Viktor opened his eyes wide, confused.

“----“ Yuuri chanted in Japanese and almost began laughing at Viktor’s even more surprised look. His Japanese had always been terrible after all. He began in Russian. “ _Pinky promise pledge, if you’re lying, I’ll make you drink a thousand needles. Pinky promise_.”

“What?” Viktor shook his head, in disbelief. “That’s not how a pinky promise works!”

“It’s not?” Yuuri asked, as he gave Yurio the glasses. “Put them on the table, dear.”

“Yes, Dad,” Yurio said without care, as Yuuri and Viktor continued arguing.  
Yuuri hesitated for a second, unsure if he had heard correctly. After seeing that Viktor hadn’t caught up on it, he continued talking.

“It’s not! It goes, ‘I won’t fight, I won’t fight, now will be friend, and won’t fight,’” Viktor said in Russian, as Yuuri began pouring the Borscht in some bowls.

“Why would you do that? Pinky promises are supposed to, you know, promise stuff,” from out the corner of his eye, Yuuri watched Yurio set the table.

“They’re promises to stop _fighting_ ,” Viktor remarked and Yuuri rolled his eyes.

“Who cares?” Yurio asked, with the bowl in his hands already. “I wanna eat borscht.”

“Okay, I’m on Yurio’s side,” Yuuri agreed, and took Yurio’s bowl, which was the last one to be filled, and headed to the table. “Come on, I bet you’re also really hungry.”

“I wont fight you on that,” Viktor’s mouth watered at the sight and smell of the delicious food that was in front of him. Yuuri felt so proud, he had spent quite a lot of time not only learning how to prepare Borscht, but perfecting the recipe. The fact that both his children were drooling over his food made him feel like he hadn't completely failed at this.

“Thank you for the food!” Yurio sang in Russian, and Yuuri gave his greeting in Japanese. It was a weird sensation to hear both versions, but it also gave the place a lively aura. As soon as everyone, even Viktor, had said their greetings, Yurio began eating, “It’s so good!”

“Is that so?” Yuuri smiled, happy that Yurio hadn’t disliked it, “Thank you.”

“It’s super good,” Yurio said, eating another spoonful of the borscht happily. Yuuri felt proud in a way he had never been before. Proud that he was a good _father_. Or at least good role model… whichever it was, it warmed up his heart. “Right, Viktor?”

Yuuri almost choked in laughter, when he saw Viktor gulping down the borscht.

“It’s delicious!” Viktor said, still eating, his mouth full. “My Yuuri is the best chef in the whole world!”

“Yeah!” Yurio cheered. His smile wider than anything Yuuri had ever seen, small teeth showing through. “Can I have more?”

“Save some space for the pudding,” Yuuri reminded, and then finally began eating. He looked at Yurio ,who was still smiling a soft smile that bloomed as he stared at the bowl. It piqued Yuuri’s interest, “Are you okay, Yurio?”

“No, it’s just,” Yurio looked at his empty bowl, and then at Viktor who was still eating happily, “It feels good to eat delicious warm food with people.”

“Didn’t you eat like that with Anzhela back in Russia?” Yuuri asked, letting his spoon rest on the bottom of the bowl, still half full. Yurio shook his head, sadly.

“She came home late, and the food was always cold when we ate. Sometimes we warmed it up, but it tastes different.” Yurio said, and got up. “I’ll go eat more.”

Yuuri watched as Yurio left for the kitchen, and then murmured towards Viktor.

“Viktor, what would have happened if we hadn’t taken in Yurio?” He asked quietly. Viktor stopped eating, frowning slightly.

“Well, maybe he would have gone to an orphanage.” The memories he was stirring up weren’t pleasant for Viktor, Yuuri knew. He didn’t know why, since he chose not to intrude in things Viktor didn’t like, but he knew enough to know that there was a reason Viktor didn’t talk about his sister. “Who knows when he would have gotten a new family…”

“He’s a nice kid,” Yuuri said, staring at Yurio who was struggling to serve himself some more Borscht. We’re lucky to have him.”

Yurio came back and sat down next to Yuuri, eating once again.

“You know, Yurio,” Viktor began talking, as he set down his bowl of food. He smiled cheerily in that way that made Yuuri realize why he had fallen in love with him and made him feel lucky for living with this man. “We are glad you are here.”

Yuuri didn’t really expect Yurio to say anything back half as sweet as Viktor’s declaration. But Yurio answered, still looking at his bowl of borscht.

“I’m glad I’m here too,” Yurio said, and then looked at Yuuri, “The food is good.”

Yuuri felt weirdly touched, and felt his eyes begin to prickle. He stroked Yurio’s cheek ever so softly. It was warm and soft against his hand. Yuuri smiled.

“Food tastes the best where the heart feels at ease,” Yuuri said, with a soft laugh. “The tastiest of food is from where your home is, and this will always be your home, Yurio.”

Yurio obviously didn’t understand a single word of what Yuuri had said, but Yuuri didn’t mind. Everything that he needed was to know was that Yurio was happy with them.

“Okay,” was everything that Yurio managed to say, and Yuuri laughed.

“Well, I think it’s time for pudding!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank You So Much To @just-another-shipper who was my Beta Reader
> 
> Edit: SCREAMS YOU GUYS ARE MAKING ME CRY WHY DO I HAVE SO SWEET AND KIND FOLLOWERS THANK YOU SO MUCH IM IN TEARS WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE SUCH AMAZING READERS

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this for quiet a long time, and i'm genuinely proud of it. I didn't bother checking the grammar and stuff like that since I'm really tired and my eyes hurt from typing three hours traight without glasses. 
> 
> (Use your glasses kids)


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